Rep. Stanley, MA Legislature Send Midyear Supplemental Budget to Governor

(BOSTON–7/31/2025) The Massachusetts State Legislature passed a $259 million supplemental budget, S.2575, that provides midyear funding for ongoing state priorities and includes important provisions to protect students, strengthen the Massachusetts public defense system, and fund vital services for residents.

This legislation provides critical funding for the Healthy Incentive Program (HIP)—which provides healthy fresh food to residents while benefiting Massachusetts farmers—as well as for extraordinary Emergency Medical Services (EMS) costs across the state and upgrading Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) benefits technology through the conversion to chip cards. It also responsibly addresses the ongoing work stoppage among private bar advocates and bolsters our Commonwealth’s public defense system.

“This supplement budget includes critical funding for the Commonwealth’s home care program and rest home industry, while also addressing the pressing need for significant rate increases for bar advocates and expanded funding for the state’s public defender system” said Representative Thomas M. Stanley (D-Waltham), House Chair of the Joint Committee on Aging and Independence. “Home care not only improves health outcomes and quality of life for older adults but also supports family caregivers. Rest homes provide housing and supportive services to over 3,000 older adults, many of whom have nowhere else to call home. We also extended the reporting deadline for the Assisted Living Residences Commission which will give us more time to incorporate findings from there recent Gabriel House tragedy.”

The agreement on private bar advocates included in the legislation provides for sustainable rate increases for these advocates while being mindful of continuing fiscal and federal uncertainty. It also shifts a greater share of the work burden from the private bar to state public defenders by providing increased resources to the Committee on Public Counsel Services (CPCS). Details of this agreement are outlined below:

• Improving the State Public Defender Workforce. With $40 million for CPCS, the state public defender agency, will be able to more than double its existing workforce. These resources will allow CPCS to hire approximately 320 new public defenders by the end of Fiscal Year 2027. Increasing the proportion of indigent clients represented by public defenders—as opposed to private bar advocates, who are independent contractors—will help stabilize the public defense system in Massachusetts.
• Timely Representation for Defendants. This agreement ensures that clients are given access to counsel in a timely manner. It requires that CPCS prioritize the hiring of public defenders serving areas with unrepresented individuals awaiting counsel assignment. That includes counties with a recent history of private bar advocate work stoppages.
• Fiscally Responsible Rate Increases. The agreement sustainably increases rates for private bar counsel by $20 per hour over a period of two years, an increase of more than 30 per cent for district court rates. Beginning on August 1, 2025, the annualized rate of pay for private bar counsel would range from $150,000 to $260,000, increasing to $170,000 to $280,000 beginning August 1, 2026.
• Minimizing Disruptions. A series of measures will minimize future disruptions, recognizing the government’s Constitutional duty to provide legal representation to indigent defendants and protect the integrity of the overall justice system. All contractual agreements for the appointment of private counsel will need to prescribe requirements for minimum coverage and availability; private counsel contractual agreements must be renewed biannually; and an agreement among private bar advocates to refuse to compete for or accept new appointments or assignments unless the rates of pay are increased will constitute evidence of a violation of the Commonwealth’s antitrust laws, consistent with federal precedent.
• Independent, Non-Partisan Oversight. The Inspector General (IG) will examine the utilization of public defense and review the billing practices, procedures, and oversight of private bar advocates. This report, which will ensure integrity in our indigent defense system, is due back to the Legislature by June 30, 2026.

As legislation designed to ensure the Commonwealth’s bills are paid, the midyear supplemental budget puts forward $259 million in spending, including:

• $60 million for Home Care Services
• $43 million for Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT)
• $15.5 million for increasing the security of Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards by transitioning to chip cards
• $10 million for extraordinary cost reimbursements in the EMS system, with $5 million specifically dedicated to the communities impacted by the closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center
• $7.5 million for the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP), which both strengthens food security for residents and supports Massachusetts farmers in the face of federal funding cuts
• $6 million for veterans’ benefits
• $4 million for the Massachusetts State Police (MSP) crime lab
• $1 million for the Fair Housing Fund.

The legislation also ratifies several collective bargaining agreements.

The final legislation also includes a series of provisions that codify certain federal protections for English language learners (ELL) and ELL students with disabilities that might be in jeopardy under the Trump Administration, ensuring the Commonwealth protects the right to public education for these students during this uncertain time. This includes the long-time guarantee of public education to children regardless of their immigration status.

Both chambers of the Legislature having voted to enact the midyear supplemental budget, the legislation will now be sent to the Governor for her signature.

###

Statements of support

Shane Callahan, Esq.

“I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve as a bar advocate. As a young attorney, it has given me invaluable trial experience early in my career. This raise will help ease some of the financial pressure that comes with supporting a young family, and I hope it will encourage more attorneys to take on this important work.”